Inconspicuous Schemes
by iamthemap
Summary: To pave into one's heart was not an easy and quick task; but it did not mean the journey is not as sweet as the destination. ShuuKira, modern-day AU


_A/N: First published story for the Bleach fandom and hopefully will be updated whenever I can._

_Pairing: ShuuKira (Shuuhei Hisagi &amp; Izuru Kira)_

_Rating: T (but may or may not be changed into M later on)_

_Other notes: They're in college, and will be living in my rough sketches of a generic university life. And my target is to have a mentally depressed Kira, though I'm not sure if I have done it properly. Basically, some of the Gotei 13 captains are teachers here, the students are living in a dorm near the college. I have no idea what their majors are, but Renji, Momo and Kira will have the same majors since they have the same classes. I'm probably going to include almost all of the characters because why not._

_Plus Kira is going to be a blushing schoolgirl because why not he's cute. Ha. Plus Renji will be the school hottie along with Ichigo. Because why not, again._

* * *

**1\. The First Step**

"Renji, it's 7:45. You should really get up right now."

The man spoken to groaned and turned over under the sheets, with his tattooed forehead peeking out and his red hair covered almost the entire pillow from being seen. Face pressed unto the cushion, another frustrated sound erupted from his throat before he fell silent again, sleep coming back to get him after being slightly disturbed by the mildly annoyed voice of the blond and the very apparent throbbing of his head.

Izuru only frowned more at the same response he got for the fourth time this morning as he finished buttoning his blue cardigan. While his roommate and best friend was stricken with hangover and still half naked in bed, he was already showered and ready to go except that his also classmate for the first morning class was not, "I've already placed painkillers on your bedside table along with water." The reminder was repeated again, for the fourth time as well. When he was still answered by silence, he walked over to the other bed and loomed over the other man, "…Do I really have to get Ichigo to wake you up?"

Apparently, the threat worked, rewarding the Izuru with another groan but Renji's head finally turned and brown eyes glared at him, "He didn't get drunk?"

"He was the one who hauled you and Ikkaku back here." Satisfied, the blond went back to his side of the room and got a black scarf, "You've got thirty minutes to prepare before class starts." He threw the fabric over his neck and shoulders before moving to his bed where his leather bag sat and started checking on his things, pale fingers running across the thin steno notebooks and textbooks, "I'm going to the classroom early since Momo said she needed help on the lesson."

"Ain't gonna come in this mornin'."

He blinked and faced Renji with his first surprised expression for the morning, eyes wide in disbelief, "You are seriously going to miss a quiz because you're hangover?" The redhead must have drunk a lot more than usual for him to just dismiss the idea of going to class, especially one that was going to have a _test_ first thing in the morning. While he may be reckless and careless and just awfully boisterous, Izuru knew him pretty well enough to automatically assume his roommate was not one to miss a test that was going to have a mark on his good grades.

The other finally pushed himself up and reached for the pills on the table, his chiselled and tattooed chest exposed as his blanket pooled by his waist and red hair fell over his face. Izuru silently enjoyed the view, but he had seen it too many times already to be anything but impressed by his musculature. For the first few weeks he stayed with Renji, he would stare far too long on his body whenever he did not feel like wearing a shirt but being with him for almost two years now, the sight was a little too common.

"Already stocked up points from the previous tests." He muttered before popping some painkillers into his mouth and swallowed it with the water, "Got enough to get me covered for this quiz. Plus the teacher has a crush on me so it's not much of a problem." The corner of his mouth twitched up for a moment, almost forming a cocky smirk before he frowned and looked up to the other, "Wait, it's the only class we have a test in, right?"

"We have an oral book report to do in Kuchiki's class." The blond sighed and lifted his bag and slung it over his shoulder while Renji cursed and swung his legs off the bed, "And I'll be going now, Momo's going to be really whiny if I arrive late." With that, he headed towards the door and opened it before Renji called out again.

"Wait, did ya eat breakfast?"

Izuru frowned and stepped out of the room, "It's on the table."

"But it hasn't been touched ye-,"

"It's all for you. See you later, Renji." The blond closed the door before the other could respond.

If he wasn't in a hurry right now he probably would have forced Izuru to stay and eat, even at least half of the usual serving. He was not hungry though he appreciated the concern; he had tried to test if he could get more than a bite for this morning, but just like the usual, he ended up leaving all of it to his roommate. Anyway, Renji was the typical guy who ate more than he should, plus he was hangover and food was going to help rid of it.

He made his way to the school grounds, which was still blessed with silence, and he was thankful for the colder weather as the breeze blew gently as he walked. Fall and winter fashion always got his attention and approval along with other reasons of covering most of his body. In most days, he and Renji would arrive in the place at least ten minutes before class starts, usually because they would spend the morning studying or, at some occasions, be hangover when some friend invites them to a drink or the guys at the dorm were generous enough to distribute booze during the night and cause a little bit of chaos in their floor.

The hallways were empty save for a few students and professors who were walking to their respective rooms or sat by the benches and tables to study. And he wasn't surprised when he found his classroom still empty; Momo more or less arrived later than the planned time, usually because she would not notice the time whenever she starts reviewing in her room or if she had the same troubles as he did this morning with Rangiku, who drank a lot more than one would expect of her to.

His footsteps echoed in the closed room as he made his way to his seat and got his book out to start reviewing. He slumped over the table, head hanging and resting on his fist while he tried to etch the words on the page into his head, repeating it over and over and murmuring it under his breath. A few pages after, he deemed himself ready for the test and proud he only consumed more or less twenty minutes, until a voice caused him to stiffen and jerked his head to face the door.

"Morning, Kira." Shuuhei Hisagi, a student older than him by one year and infamous for being an athlete and the vice-president for the university's publication organization, leaned by the doorframe and waved at him. Though his reputation was greatly respected, he didn't look quite like a star student. He was a lot like Renji, rough and a little violent, tattooed and looked pretty much abrasive, though he was not as short-tempered and cocky as his roommate. And Izuru admired him a whole lot more, almost to the point of worshipping him.

He felt his cheeks warm up as he stared at the other for a few seconds and stuttered, "Sh-Shuuhei! Good morning!" Oh gods did he look stupid, sitting up straight like some kid being told to, moving his head so his long hair could cover at least some of his face to hide the blush that he so tried to get rid of and prayed the older couldn't see it from the distance.

It must have been bad luck (or maybe not) that began to plague him this morning because the dark-haired man walked in, his backpack hanging over one shoulder and his hands hanging by the thumb on his pockets, "You're pretty early today, got a test?"

"Oh, no- I mean, yes. I was just waiting for Momo, the girl you see with Renji and me. We were supposed to study together at this time but it seems she's late as usual…" Hopefully his smile looked natural and apparently it was (he thinks) because Shuuhei smiled back (oh gods he looked so handsome even with those scars), "Y-you're early as well. I thought you went out drinking with Renji."

"I always arrive here at this time or maybe even earlier." The older man sat on the seat in front of him and leaned back as he chuckled, "Yeah, I was. Didn't get drunk enough though, can't when I have deadlines to pass today and tomorrow." His bag was placed on his lap and he pulled out a paper bag, "Speaking of Abarai," a sandwich was taken out and he took a bite out of it, smirking as he chewed, "Fucking hangover as hell, isn't he?" (Oh he even looked hot while smirking and chewing at the same time.)

Izuru laughed softly, eyes drifting on the book and settled on the table, "Yes, he is. Ichigo and Yumichika brought him back with Ikkaku and they were pretty much trashed last night." His hands balled into fists and he tried to relax them, to look a little more natural and not like some shy schoolgirl in front of the guy she had the biggest crush on, "He's not coming in this morning because of it."

Shuuhei scoffed then snickered, taking another large bite from his breakfast, "No surprise. Those two tried to beat Matsumoto. Though, I thought you were coming to drink with us."

The blond looked up with wide, surprised eyes at him before looking down again, "O-oh, I was finishing a research paper." His heart began to beat wilder than before and he turned his face away, "Renji was already done with his but I wanted to double check mine and-," he blinked when he noticed something in front of him and realized it was a wrapped sandwich, held out by the other who was nearly through with the one he was currently eating.

"You're in Kuchiki's class right? Yeah, he gives a lot of tedious homework. Surprisingly Abarai gets the top scores in that subject." When Izuru was still staring confused at the sandwich, Shuuhei jerked his head to it and shrugged, "C'mon, take it."

Blue eyes looked at him again and the blush deepened before the younger shook his head, "I-it's okay I-I'm not hungry. It's your breakfast, you eat it. I'm not hungry at all." His hands waved but when the other frowned, he immediately took the sandwich with his pale hands and he started fidgeting, looking down on the floor, "T-thank you, b-but you shouldn't have."

"It's fine. Already ate two before I came here." Shuuhei's own was already gone and slung his arm over the back of the chair. He stared at the ceiling for a good ten seconds and looked back at the other, who was still holding the food, unwrapped and staring at it uneasily, "Eat." That rewarded him with the same flustered reaction and the blond shook his head again, chuckling awkwardly and saying he was not hungry and saving it for later. "You've gotten a lot thinner, you know."

Izuru frowned for a moment, almost looking ashamed before shrugging, "Just wasn't hungry as before." The words were muttered under his breath, Shuuhei almost did not hear it if it was not so quiet.

It was the other's turn to frown and he shifted in his seat so that his body was facing the younger man and an arm was hanging off of the back of the chair. The said arm was lifted up and patted Izuru's cheek just below his eye with the tip of his three middle fingers, "Your face definitely got thinner. You should eat more."

A miracle. It was definitely a miracle that Shuuhei did not notice that Izuru had tensed into some kind of stone state and his pale white face was painted in red at the contact of their skin. Or perhaps he did notice, because brown eyebrows furrowed, the three scar lines folding a bit and lips were turned into a very contemplative frown. The older was looking at him closely, his eyes hinted with some amount of concern and worry and the blond was not sure of what he should think, do or feel.

"…Are you sick or something?" His voice was surprisingly gentle and quiet as he slumped over the back of the seat. The younger was still unsure of what to do but he somehow managed to understand that Shuuhei mistook his blush as a fevered flush. But instead of correcting him that no, he was not having a fever, he was just blushing like some schoolgirl because his crush was sitting in a room alone with him, talking to him after even offered a sandwich to him. No, he was a mature university student with priorities which were his studies, even if he forgot all about it because the man he admired so much from afar was concerned about him.

"I…" He almost did not notice that his thin fingers were pressing a little too much on the poor sandwich enough to make a hole through the bread and that Shuuhei looked even more worried now.

"Are you sure you're okay, Kira? Because Abarai said-,"

Izuru's eyes widened and his blood raced in a matter of a split second, "What did he say?" Oh gods, what did Renji tell him during their drinking session. Please don't say he ran his mouth about _it_ while alcohol replaced the blood in his veins last night. He was going to die if anyone ever knew, if _Shuuhei_ ever knew. What would he think of him? He was going to lose everything if anyone other than Renji and Momo found out about it.

Almost hesitating when the younger suddenly demanded, Shuuhei only frowned and shrugged, "Abarai said you weren't eating much these past few days. Only bites and coffee. But no real meals." His eyes shifted back to concern, and Izuru felt his heart melting from the look that was directed to him.

But before he could say anything else, a voice echoed through the room from the door, "Oh, Izuru, you're here already?" Momo stood by the door, hands full with books and notebooks and her small backpack slung over her shoulder. She stepped in, curious when she found out that her best friend was not alone, then blinked when she realized who it was, "Shuuhei?"

"Morning, Hinamori." The older man greeted with a wave and stood up, completely missing the incredibly knowing and dangerous look that the girl secretly gave to Izuru when their eyes met. He stretched and turned to the younger man, "You better eat that sandwich, okay? It would go to waste if you don't."

The younger could not find his voice to respond because somehow he had pissed off someone from up there enough to have his secretly dangerous best friend walk into him talking to the biggest crush of his life. But, at least, Shuuhei had his attention on her instead of Izuru and started heading out to the door.

"You two are going to study, right? Better leave you alone now."

Momo waved while she approached the blond, her face etched with a polite smile and a soft voice, "Take care, Shuuhei."

"Yeah, you too, Hinamori." The brunet was already by the door when he looked back at Izuru, "See ya, Kira."

Izuru was sure Momo was some kind of representative from hell, because before he could say anything, she had beaten him into it with her voice full of malicious intentions (at least for him). It was going to be another miracle if Shuuhei did not get at least a hint of it.

"Oh he would love that."


End file.
